He paused, like he'd rather not tell me, but of course, he eventually did. "Well, you know I lived with him and his parents for a year?"
"Yeah," I said, puzzled as to where he was going with this.
"Well, he and his dad had a...strained relationship, I guess you could say. Anyway, one day his dad took it too far, knocked him around a little. I didn't really think about it, I just wanted it to stop. I guess I kind of stepped in front of him, took a blow for him." He looked over at my reaction for a second, before turning back to his driving.
I stared at him, shocked. I hadn't heard this story before. It sounded exactly like something Denny would do though. My heart squeezed a little for Kellan...
He shook his head, his brow creased. "That seemed to wake his dad up a little. He didn't bother him again while I was there." He lightly shook his head. "I don't know about after though..." Looking over at me, he gave me his goofy grin. "Anyway, Kellan just kind of felt...like we were more a family than his real family after that." He laughed and looked back to the road. "I think he's more thrilled that I'm back, than I am."
When we arrived at the bar, Kellan was already there, sitting with his three other band mates at a table in the back near the stage. He was sitting on the end, looking relaxed and comfortable, one foot propped on his knee and sipping a beer. To his left, was the longer-haired blonde that I remembered as the bassist. Across from him, was the teddy-bear drummer that I'd hoped was our new roommate, and finishing the circle, to the drummer's left, was the last member of the group, the other blonde guitarist. I was a little surprised that they weren't hidden away somewhere, getting ready to play. But they looked completely confident that they were going to be great, and were simply relaxing with a few beers before going up there.
Two women sitting at the table across from them were openly watching their every move. One was clearly gaping at Kellan. She looked drunk enough, and intrigued enough, that I thought at any moment she was going to lunge herself across the aisle and plop right down in his lap. While Kellan paid her absolutely no attention, I wasn't sure if he wouldn't mind if she decided to do just that.
Kellan's attention however was currently being held by the bassist sitting next to him. From the door I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but all of the guys were listening to his story with smiles on their faces.
Denny noticed them as well and turning to smile at me, he started leading us over to their table. As we got close enough to hear the bassist's words, I decided that coming here was a bad idea, and wished that I had kept my mouth shut and we were warm and comfortable, snuggling on the couch again. Denny was pulling me steadily forward though, so I glumly followed.
"...this girl, damn, she had the best rack I've ever seen." The bassist paused to make a crude gesture with his hands...as if the guys would need that statement clarified. "And the shortest skirt too. Everybody around us was completely wasted, so I ducked under the table and shoved that skirt as high as it would go. Then I grabbed my beer bottle and stuck..."
Kellan smacked him on the chest, noticing Denny's and my arrival. We stopped at the end of the table before him, Denny chuckling a little. I was sure I was blushing, and tried to keep my face as smooth as possible.
"Dude...I'm getting to the good part, hold on." The bassist look mildly confused.
"Griff..." Kellan pointed over to me. "My new roommates are here."
He looked up to glance at Denny and me. "Oh yeah...roommates." He looked over at Kellan again. "I miss Joey, man...she was hot! Seriously, why did you have to tap that? Not that I blame you, but-"
He cut off as Kellan smacked him in the chest, even harder. Ignoring the bassist's irritation, Kellan pointed up to us. "Guys, this is my friend Denny and his girlfriend Kiera."
I tried to fix my face into a smile. I hadn't known why his old roommate had left, and I was a little shocked and, of course, still a little embarrassed at the crude conversation we'd walked into. Denny smiled and smoothly said, "Hello." I managed to mumble out a, "Hi."
"Hey." The bassist nodded his chin up in greeting. "Griffin." He eyed me up and down, making me extremely uncomfortable and I squeezed Denny's hand harder, moving slightly behind him.
His could-be twin across the table from Kellan, stuck his hand out in a more polite greeting. "Matt, Hi."
"The guitarist, right?" Denny asked him while he shook his hand. "You're really good!"
"Yeah, thanks, man." He seemed genuinely pleased that Denny had remembered what he played. Griffin however, snorted, and Matt threw him a look. "Oh, get over it, Griffin."
Griffin shot him a look right back. "All I'm saying, is that you totally messed up that last riff. I rock that song, I should totally play it."
Ignoring what sounded like an on-going argument, the big teddy-bear looking guy beside Matt stood up and extended his hand to us. "Evan, drummer. Nice to meet you."
We shook his hand while Kellan stood up. He walked across the aisle to the drunken women. I thought the one who had been gaping at him earlier might pass out at his nearness. He leaned over the back of her chair, brushed aside a lock of her hair and whispered something very closely in her ear. She nodded, flushing slightly, and then he stood, grabbing a couple of empty chairs beside them. The women were giggling like school girls as he walked away.
He set the chairs down for us at the end of the table, with a slight smile on his face. "Here, have a seat."
Feeling odd about that whole exchange, and not entirely comfortable with our new companions, I sat down with a small frown on my face. Kellan's smile widened. He seemed to really enjoy it when I was uncomfortable.
Griffin was turning his attention to Denny as we sat down. "What's your accent...you British?"
Denny smiled politely at him. "Australian."
Griffin nodded, like he knew that all along. "Ahhhh. Ahoy, mate."
Kellan and Evan laughed. Matt looked over at him like he was the world's biggest idiot. "Dude, he's Australian...not a pirate."
Griffin sniffed haughtily. "Whatever." He took a swig of his beer.
Laughing a little, Denny asked, "What's the name of your band anyway?"
Griffin chuckled while Kellan stated, "D-Bags."
I looked over at him incredulously and then smiled. "Seriously?"
Griffin surprisingly frowned a little. "They made me condense it, the pussies. I wanted the full thing. State it loud, state it proud!" He smacked the table.
Matt rolled his eyes. "If we ever want to play somewhere bigger than Pete's, then we need a name they can put on the marquee." At least one of them seemed to have goals for a bigger future.
Griffin shot an irritated look over to Matt, while Kellan and Evan chuckled. "Dude, I made t-shirts... "
"No one is stopping you from wearing them," Matt muttered, rolling his eyes again.
Kellan and Evan laughed harder, and even Denny chuckled a little. I couldn't help but smile at them. "Are you guys brothers?"
Griffin looked at me in horror. "Absolutely not!"
Surprised, I looked back at Matt and then to him again. They really could have been twins. "Oh, sorry it's just you look so..."
"We're cousins," Matt explained. "Our dad's are twins, so the resemblance is...unfortunate." He frowned.
Griffin snorted again. "Unfortunate for you...that I'm hotter." The rest of the guys at the table laughed while Matt rolled his eyes again.
Abruptly, Kellan lifted two fingers in the air and nodding his chin up, motioned the fingers down at Denny and me. I looked across the room to where he was focused. An older woman, who smiled at him oddly, was running the bar at the far end of the long room. She seemed to know exactly what he meant, and handed two beer bottles to a waitress, pointing her in our direction.
I looked back over at Kellan, but he was already talking with Denny about Denny's new job position. Kellan was curious about what an internship in advertising entailed. Having heard the story a million times before, I tuned it out and took a look around the bar.
Pete's was warm and comfortable looking. The floors were oak and worn with years of use. The walls were a pleasant cream and red with nearly every square inch covered with signs of various brands of beers. Dozens of tables, in varying sizes and styles, dotted the wooden floor, crammed packed where they could fit, except for a twenty foot area in front of the stage that took up one of the shorter walls.
The stage was oak as well, the wall behind it painted black, and covered with hanging guitars in different styles and colors. Huge speakers sat on either side of the stage, pointing out towards the crowd. The lights above the stage were currently off and the microphones, guitars, and drums sat on the darkened stage, waiting for their owners.
I looked over to the other side of the large rectangular room while the guys chatted around me. The other short wall was one long bar. The mirror behind the bar was lined with shelves, all filled with every bottle of liquor you could imagine. The bartender was now busy filling drinks for the crowd starting to pour in from the double doors along the front wall. Large windows dotted that wall, letting in the glow of the various neon bar signs.
A pretty, blonde waitress approached, and handed Denny and me our beers. We thanked her and Kellan gave her a friendly nod, which made me curious for a second. The waitress only smiled politely at him however, so I figured they were just friends.
I sipped my beer and watched the waitress walk through some double doors on the other long wall of the bar. I could see steel and movement, and hear the clatter of food being prepared. That must be the kitchen. A large archway, not far from the kitchen doors, led to a decent sized room that appeared to have a couple pool tables in it. Continuing down the rest of the wall, I noticed a hallway close to the stage that receded around a corner, signs above it indicating that restrooms were in that direction.
As I was looking at the hallway, my eyesight came across the two women who had been watching the guys earlier. Denny and I were now partially blocking their view, sitting on the end of the table as we were. The one who openly wanted Kellan did not look happy that I was sitting right next to him. In fact, she looked downright pissed. I quickly turned back around.
I felt someone approaching me from behind then, and for a moment, I worried that the woman was going to try and start something with me. My body involuntarily tensed as I looked over my shoulder. I sighed softly with relief at the sight of an older man approaching our table.
He was dressed nicely, in khaki slacks and a red collared shirt with the name of the bar in the upper corner. He looked to be in his mid-fifties with graying hair and a weathered face. He did not currently look happy at all.
"Guys ready? You're up in five," he sighed heavily.
"You alright, Pete?" Kellan asked him, frowning a little.
I blinked. Pete must be the owner of Pete's. How cute.
"No...Traci quit over the phone, she's not coming back. I had to have Kate pull a double, so we were covered tonight." He glared, rather angrily, at Kellan. That made me curious, until I remembered that the ex-roommate, Joey, had left abruptly because of Kellan. Maybe it was a pattern with him?
Kellan in turn, glared over at Griffin. He looked a little sheepish and took a long swig of his beer before muttering, "Sorry, Pete."
Pete sighed and shook his head. I guess there were just some risks that Pete was accustomed to involving his entertainment. Surprising myself I said, "I was a waitress. I need to get a job, and working nights would be perfect when school starts."
Pete looked over at me curiously and then back to Kellan. Kellan smiled and pointed to us with his bottle in turn. "Pete, these are my new roommates, Denny, Kiera."
Pete nodded and looked me over. "You twenty-one?"
I smiled nervously. "Yeah, since May." I wondered briefly what he would do if I said 'no' while sipping on a beer?
He nodded again. "All right. I could use the help soon though. Can you start Monday, six pm?"
I looked over at Denny, wondering if I should have talked this over with him first. With his internship during the day, nights would be all we had together. He was smiling at me though, and nodded near imperceptibly.